Intellpuke: The following article is by Daniel J. Callahn and Marc P. Miles, the lawyers
representing the families of four American contractors who worked for Blackwater
and were killed in Fallujah. After Blackwater refused to share information about
why they were killed, the families were told they would have to sue Blackwater
to find out. Now Blackwater is trying to sue them for $10 million to keep them
quiet. This article was first posted on AlterNet.org's website.
The families of four American security contractors who were
burned, beaten, dragged through the streets of Fallujah and their decapitated
bodies hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River on March 31, 2004, are reaching
out to the American public to help protect themselves against the very company
their loved ones were serving when killed, Blackwater Security Consulting. After
Blackwater lost a series of appeals all the away to the U.S. Supreme Court,
Blackwater has now changed its tactics and is suing the dead men's estates for
$10 million to silence the families and keep them out of court.
Following these gruesome deaths which were broadcast on worldwide television,
the surviving family members looked to Blackwater for answers as to how and
why their loved ones died. Blackwater not only refused to give the grieving
families any information, but also callously stated that they would need to
sue Blackwater to get it. Left with no alternative, in January 2005, the families
filed suit against Blackwater, which is owned by the wealthy and politically-connected
Erik Prince.
Blackwater quickly adapted its battlefield tactics to the courtroom. It initially
hired Fred F. Fielding, who is currently counsel to the President of the United
States. It then hired Joseph E. Schmitz as its in-house counsel, who was formerly
the Inspector General at the Pentagon. More recently, Blackwater employed Kenneth
Starr, famed prosecutor in the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal, to
oppose the families. To add additional muscle, Blackwater hired Cofer Black,
who was the Director of the CIA Counter- Terrorist Center.
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